Speaking to today's Leveson inquiry, Murdoch admitted he had the conversation, and may have sworn, though he denied he had "stormed" into the office. Independent writer Amol Rajan remembers it differently:

One thing #Murdoch didn't mention, aside from the colourful language, was the finger-jabbing. There was a lot of finger-jabbing. A lot — amol rajan (@amolrajan) April 24, 2012

Murdoch told the inquiry that he had felt betrayed as Kelner had been "availing himself of the hospitality of my family" at the time.